At the presentation of the services package on Tuesday 10 January, the European Commission sought to reassure companies and trade unions, as well as a number of member states, over their concerns at the introduction of a European services e-card (ESC).
In the press conference, Commission Vice-President with responsibility for Employment and Growth Jyrki Katainen and Internal Market and Industry Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska sent out three major messages: - the aim of the services e-card is to simplify administrative procedures for service providers wishing to extend their activities into another member state and not change national social legislation or labour law; - the services e-card will not be the cause of social dumping among member states since states national laws will continue to apply; - the card will have no effect on the posted workers directive. These messages were directed at both business people and unions, apprehension among whom was palpable still on the eve of the presentation of the package (see EUROPE 11699).
e-card – voluntary and flexible. As indicated previously, (see EUROPE 11699), two texts govern the ESC: a regulation which sets out the information that the card will contain and the arrangements for implementation, and a directive on governance and the respective roles of the service provider’s home member state and the host member state.
Essentially, the e-card aims to simplify administrative procedures for service providers – companies and self-employed persons – by shifting the administrative burden from entrepreneurs and making national public administrations responsible for the paperwork. The Commission does not intend to devise a completely new system but will build upon the internal market information system (IMI). This system already facilitates communication between local, regional and national authorities in the EU and also Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. According to a source, however, the IMI system will not be imposed on member states which may continue to use their own national systems so long as they meet the requirements set by the European legislation.
Service providers must, therefore, be able to provide information in their own language to dedicated national departments which will then be responsible for transmitting this information to the appropriate department in the host member state. The host member state department will be responsible for checking the information and giving their approval after assessing the service providers wishing to expand into host state.
All member states will have to make these services available to their national service providers who will be free to use them or to continue with the current system and go directly through the administrative channels of the host state. In addition, the e-card will not apply to those areas of activity or professions outside the scope of the 2006 services directive – this includes lawyers, notaries, services in areas of health, transport, telecommunications, security and recruitment agencies.
Controversial project even within the College of Commissioners. The e-card has provoked controversy among the member states (see EUROPE 11677) and also within the College of European Commissioners. According to several sources, Social Policy and Employment Commissioner Maryanne Thyssen asked in December for clarification of how the proposal would articulate with the posted workers directive, concerned at the possible effect on national checks. Economic and Financial Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici is said to have asked for the announcement to be delayed until after the elections in France and Germany. “This issue is highly sensitive in some member states as soon as Europe and services are linked”, a source said.
Three further initiatives to encourage emergence of internal market in services. As Commissioner Bienkowska noted, in public consultations ten years after the adoption of the services directive, more than 83% of companies which had sought to provide services in other member states said they had encountered administrative obstacles. The Commission, then, is proposing to introduce an evaluation of the proportionality of the national rules that apply to professional services. The intention is to determine whether the rules governing certain professions are justified and balanced.
In addition, the Commission presented sectoral guidance on national reform needs in the regulation of professional services with high growth and jobs potential, such as architects, engineers, lawyers, accountants, patent agents, real estate agents and tourist guides. This guidance complements the European semester evaluations.
Lastly, the Commission wants to improve procedures for notifying draft national laws on services. At the moment, most member states provide only partially correct notification of their draft laws – often after the laws have been passed – for the European Commission to assess whether they comply with European law. This is a situation that needs to be remedied, the commissioners argue, seeking to put in place a more timely, effective and transparent system.
The Commission, which appears to be progressing with the utmost caution on this matter, repeats that this package is not re-visiting the 2006 services directive but seeks to facilitate implementation of European legislation. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)